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He said the fire service had always supported him when he faced his own challenges.<\/p>\n
“Years ago, I was in the Gold Coast hospital after having a suspected brain aneurysm,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The commissioner of the state fire service at the time rang me while I was there in bed to check in and wish me luck. You appreciate that kind of thing, it was like having a big family.”<\/p>\n
Beyond emergencies, Snape valued the community side of the job.<\/p>\n
“For more than 10 years I’d go to one of the preschools for fire safety talks,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There were only a few natural disasters I haven’t dealt with and that’s an earthquake and tsunami.”<\/p>\n
Snape also runs his own tree lopping business and hopes to spend more time with his two daughters and six grandchildren.<\/p>\n
His career will be celebrated at an official retirement party in late October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFTER more than three decades of service, firefighter Dean Snape has hung up his helmet with Fire and Rescue NSW. Snape, 52, finished his career on September 11, a date that gave him pause. “I got to go home that day where a lot of firefighters in New York on 9\/11 didn’t,” he said. “I […]<\/p>\n